End times doom and gloom

[bsjkki]

I've had a few circumstances that led to debating whether we live in the most wicked times in world history. My husband in High Priests gets frustrated with all the doom and gloom discussed in class i.e.. millennials are terrible, technology is evil, the world is in terrible shape...the end is near. I'm sure most of you have heard some of this type of talk before. I also had an argument that we don't live in the most wicked times in history. While there is wickedness in the world, there are a lot of good people and a lot of good things happening in the world. World hunger has lessened, women have more rights, poverty is decreasing. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/mar/17/aid-trade-reduce-acute-poverty  I also think back to the World Wars, Hilter, Stalin, child labor and infant mortality rates and wonder how people can think we have it so bad? The Gospel is on the Earth, we have a prophet, and busy temples around the globe. I don't think it is so awful out there. While we do have our challenges, I really don't see things as all doom and gloom. 

What is your opinion? While we may be living in the last days, are these the worst days so far? Why are some Mormons so negative about the state of the world?

 

[Tacenda]

2 minutes ago, bsjkki said:

I've had a few circumstances that led to debating whether we live in the most wicked times in world history. My husband in High Priests gets frustrated with all the doom and gloom discussed in class i.e.. millennials are terrible, technology is evil, the world is in terrible shape...the end is near. I'm sure most of you have heard some of this type of talk before. I also had an argument that we don't live in the most wicked times in history. While there is wickedness in the world, there are a lot of good people and a lot of good things happening in the world. World hunger has lessened, women have more rights, poverty is decreasing. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/mar/17/aid-trade-reduce-acute-poverty  I also think back to the World Wars, Hilter, Stalin, child labor and infant mortality rates and wonder how people can think we have it so bad? The Gospel is on the Earth, we have a prophet, and busy temples around the globe. I don't think it is so awful out there. While we do have our challenges, I really don't see things as all doom and gloom. 

What is your opinion? While we may be living in the last days, are these the worst days so far? Why are some Mormons so negative about the state of the world?

 

Sometimes I wonder if they just can't wait for the hereafter, and life is so hard for many now that they wish the world would end. 

[Hamba Tuhan]

When I was much younger, I attended a CES broadcast with Pres Hinckley in which he counselled us to avoid all the doom and gloom. FWIW.

[sunstoned]

I believe that right now, this very minute is the best time to be alive in the history of the planet.  Things are far from perfect, and there is still war, hunger, disease and oppression.  But it is better than it use to be.  Christians are not being fed to the lions, minorities are not being lynched in the deep south, typhoid, polio, smallpox, malaria and other diseases that use to kill millions have been all be eradicated.  In the West, women and minorities are beginning to be treated as equals, and poverty is down.  

[Maidservant]

To paraphrase another meme . . . what if someone threw a Doomsday and nobody came?

We don't have to do it, by the way.  We don't have to do a doomsday at all.  We can all repent, and I feel that the majority of decent people all over the world are.  We don't have to do anything but love, love, love, love, love each other--love our family, love our enemies, love everyone in between.  Even in the scriptures, I think the doomsday is contingent upon if we DON'T repent, but what if we all do?

I often think about the ancient punishment of casting stones.  I sometimes think to myself that God would wait to see for the day when no one would pick up a stone.  If we don't pick up stones, THEN NO ONE IS STONED.  Even God can't make us stone a person.  IT'S JUST US.  God was probably hoping everyone would figure that out.  (OT according to Maidservant.)

God can't make us have a doomsday if we don't want to do it (for those who assume that doomsday is conducted under God's auspices).

[Bernard Gui]

Quote

 

Jesus said, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

On the other hand, I wonder what the Nephites and Lamanites were saying on the third day of the first month?

Quote

And the people began to look with great earnestness for the sign which had been given by the prophet Samuel, the Lamanite, yea, for the time that there should be darkness for the space of three days over the face of the land. And there began to be great doubtings and disputations among the people, notwithstanding so many signs had been given. And it came to pass in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, on the fourth day of the month, there arose a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all the land.

 

Edited March 14, 2018 by Bernard Gui

[Bernard Gui]

3 hours ago, Maidservant said:

God can't make us have a doomsday if we don't want to do it (for those who assume that doomsday is conducted under God's auspices).

God listed all the wicked cities he destroyed in the fires, storms, floods, and earthquakes preceding Christ’s appearance to the Nephites.

Edited March 14, 2018 by Bernard Gui

[Hamba Tuhan]

4 hours ago, sunstoned said:

Malaria and other diseases that use to kill millions have been all be eradicated.

Malaria has been eradicated???

[sunstoned]

3 hours ago, Hamba Tuhan said:

Malaria has been eradicated???

In the U.S. and most of the west:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Malaria_Eradication_Program

[Hamba Tuhan]

20 minutes ago, sunstoned said:

In the U.S. and most of the west:

Ah. I guess I see the world from a slightly different perspective:

 

[CV75]

9 hours ago, bsjkki said:

I've had a few circumstances that led to debating whether we live in the most wicked times in world history. My husband in High Priests gets frustrated with all the doom and gloom discussed in class i.e.. millennials are terrible, technology is evil, the world is in terrible shape...the end is near. I'm sure most of you have heard some of this type of talk before. I also had an argument that we don't live in the most wicked times in history. While there is wickedness in the world, there are a lot of good people and a lot of good things happening in the world. World hunger has lessened, women have more rights, poverty is decreasing. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/mar/17/aid-trade-reduce-acute-poverty  I also think back to the World Wars, Hilter, Stalin, child labor and infant mortality rates and wonder how people can think we have it so bad? The Gospel is on the Earth, we have a prophet, and busy temples around the globe. I don't think it is so awful out there. While we do have our challenges, I really don't see things as all doom and gloom. 

What is your opinion? While we may be living in the last days, are these the worst days so far? Why are some Mormons so negative about the state of the world?

It depends on how and what you measure in terms of good and evil. Are poverty, inequality and hunger; war, autocracy, labor, morbidity and mortality wicked in and of themselves, or is it the intentional or apathetic imposition of these conditions of the "haves" upon the "have-nots"? Biotech and AI advancement at the current rate by the current trend-setters can easily create a class of super-humans (those with biotechnological enhancements of brain and body) that overlords the masses of relatively useless people, kindly or not (but for the sake of argument, let's say unkindly--that is the problem). Are the haves becoming kinder to the have-nots in equal measure across the globe, and by the numbers, are the two groups approaching an equilibrium?

Personally, I think the last days reflect an expansion of the human (individually and collectively, with personal and global impact) potential for doing both good and evil, which inherently entails and expanded magnitude of opposition. When one sees intentional opposition growing, they will interpret that as a negative, no matter how much good they can do or how many are opposing them.

[JLHPROF]

10 hours ago, bsjkki said:

 What is your opinion? While we may be living in the last days, are these the worst days so far? Why are some Mormons so negative about the state of the world?

I believe we are living in the worst days so far AND that there is much progress for good that has been made.

The advances of quality of life are obvious but don't offset the increase in societal wickedness and increasing separation of man from his creator.

[carbon dioxide]

10 hours ago, bsjkki said:

I've had a few circumstances that led to debating whether we live in the most wicked times in world history. My husband in High Priests gets frustrated with all the doom and gloom discussed in class i.e.. millennials are terrible, technology is evil, the world is in terrible shape...the end is near. I'm sure most of you have heard some of this type of talk before. I also had an argument that we don't live in the most wicked times in history. While there is wickedness in the world, there are a lot of good people and a lot of good things happening in the world. World hunger has lessened, women have more rights, poverty is decreasing. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/mar/17/aid-trade-reduce-acute-poverty  I also think back to the World Wars, Hilter, Stalin, child labor and infant mortality rates and wonder how people can think we have it so bad? The Gospel is on the Earth, we have a prophet, and busy temples around the globe. I don't think it is so awful out there. While we do have our challenges, I really don't see things as all doom and gloom. 

What is your opinion? While we may be living in the last days, are these the worst days so far? Why are some Mormons so negative about the state of the world?

I am not sure what women's rights, poverty, hunger, child labor, infant mortality have to do with the world being wicked.  One can have a very wicked society that has no poor, no kids being forced to labor, and lots of rights for women.  The fact there at good things occurring on the Earth does not erase the negative things.  Is there more wickedness now?  Perhaps the answers to these questions will offer a better test

1.  Are more people today keeping the commandments.

2. Are more people obeying the law of chastity?

3. Are more people honoring the Sabbath?

4.  Is faith in God increasing or decreasing?

5.  Is society spending more time studying the scriptures or spending more time on social media doing dumb stuff?

Overall, is righteousness increasing or decreasing?  Secular good things might be important in some aspects but God is going to exchange say Sabbath observance with say women's rights.  God is not going to say 'The people are not observing the Sabbath but they are giving women more rights so that is a good exchange."  So yes there are good things going on.  Much of that however is a result of prosperity at the moment.  Most of the good things will go away as soon as the next depression hits.  The bad things however will remain regardless of where the economy goes.

 

[carbon dioxide]

8 hours ago, sunstoned said:

I believe that right now, this very minute is the best time to be alive in the history of the planet.  Things are far from perfect, and there is still war, hunger, disease and oppression.  But it is better than it use to be.  Christians are not being fed to the lions, minorities are not being lynched in the deep south, typhoid, polio, smallpox, malaria and other diseases that use to kill millions have been all be eradicated.  In the West, women and minorities are beginning to be treated as equals, and poverty is down.  

Of course its a better time to live than in previous centuries mainly due to technology issues but little of it has to do with wickedness and how that is measured.  Health issues and poverty are not measures of wickedness.  One can be very poor and righteous and one can be very prosperous and wicked.   Much of the improvements will disappear at some point.  When the economy crashes, one can expect a huge hit on health related stuff.  Wars will increase and they will be far bigger than what we seen in the past.  We are living in a relatively calm period but it will change eventually. 

Edited March 14, 2018 by carbon dioxide

[carbon dioxide]

8 hours ago, Maidservant said:

God can't make us have a doomsday if we don't want to do it (for those who assume that doomsday is conducted under God's auspices).

Man is pretty good at doing it himself.  God can step in if needed but eventually mankind will destroy himself.  Even looking at all the advances show our weakness.  We have great technology but this technology can be a great negative.  We now have the capacity through air travel to spread a pandemic faster than ever before.  Think the Spanish flu was bad.  What will the next pandemic do?

[stemelbow]

10 hours ago, Hamba Tuhan said:

When I was much younger, I attended a CES broadcast with Pres Hinckley in which he counselled us to avoid all the doom and gloom. FWIW.

There's definitely been mixed messages.  I pointed it out in Elder's quorum last year after then Pres Uchtdorf spoke about how fear is a manipulative tool in teaching and we should avoid it, and used the example of preaching doom and gloom as is mentioned in the OP. 

Quote

One of the ways Satan wants us to manipulate others is by dwelling upon and even exaggerating the evil in the world.

Certainly our world has always been, and will continue to be, imperfect. Far too many innocent people suffer because of circumstances of nature as well as from man’s inhumanity. The corruption and wickedness in our day are unique and alarming.

But in spite of all this, I wouldn’t trade living in this time with any other time in the history of the world. We are blessed beyond measure to live in a day of unparalleled prosperity, enlightenment, and advantage. Most of all, we are blessed to have the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which gives us a unique perspective on the world’s dangers and shows us how to either avoid these dangers or deal with them.

When I think of these blessings, I want to fall to my knees and offer praises to our Heavenly Father for His never-ending love for all of His children.

I don’t believe God wants His children to be fearful or dwell on the evils of the world. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”¹⁰

He has given us an abundance of reasons to rejoice. We just need to find and to recognize them. The Lord often reminds us to “be not afraid,” to “be of good cheer,”¹¹ and to “fear not, little flock.”¹²

unfortunately many messages in the very conference and the session he spoke in did exactly what he said is manipulative and evil:

Quote

We live in a time of great trouble and wickedness. What will protect us from the sin and evil so prevalent in the world today?

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/the-power-of-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng

Quote

However, there are children who struggle to stand “steadfast and immovable” and whose delicate minds are being wounded.³ They are being attacked on every side by “the fiery darts of the adversary”⁴ and are in need of reinforcement and support. They are an overwhelming motivation for us to step up and wage a war against sin in our effort to bring our children unto Christ.

Listen to the words of Elder Bruce R. McConkie nearly 43 years ago:

“As members of the Church, we are engaged in a mighty conflict. We are at war. We have enlisted in the cause of Christ to fight against Lucifer. …

“The great war that rages on every side and which unfortunately is resulting in many casualties, some fatal, is no new thing. …

“Now there neither are nor can be any neutrals in this war.”⁵

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/a-sin-resistant-generation?lang=eng

Of course throughout the conference it was said that our time is particularly sad and difficult, in a way. The message of the Church it seems to me is often we are special and avoid doom and gloom that others have to deal with, God gives us extra special notice and blessings, because of our faith, because of our righteousness/worthiness.  

[pogi]

10 hours ago, Maidservant said:

If we don't pick up stones, THEN NO ONE IS STONED. 

I don't know, kids seem to find other ways to get stoned these days 

Edited March 14, 2018 by pogi

[EdGoble]

11 hours ago, bsjkki said:

I've had a few circumstances that led to debating whether we live in the most wicked times in world history. My husband in High Priests gets frustrated with all the doom and gloom discussed in class i.e.. millennials are terrible, technology is evil, the world is in terrible shape...the end is near. I'm sure most of you have heard some of this type of talk before. I also had an argument that we don't live in the most wicked times in history. While there is wickedness in the world, there are a lot of good people and a lot of good things happening in the world. World hunger has lessened, women have more rights, poverty is decreasing. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/mar/17/aid-trade-reduce-acute-poverty  I also think back to the World Wars, Hilter, Stalin, child labor and infant mortality rates and wonder how people can think we have it so bad? The Gospel is on the Earth, we have a prophet, and busy temples around the globe. I don't think it is so awful out there. While we do have our challenges, I really don't see things as all doom and gloom. 

What is your opinion? While we may be living in the last days, are these the worst days so far? Why are some Mormons so negative about the state of the world?

 

I think that the wicked on the whole are definitely equal to or surpassing the times of Noah.  The only difference is that the righteous are spread out among the wicked, and the Lord is giving the wicked a chance to repent by keeping them spread out.

The only thing lacking to a complete fulness of iniquity is the geographic separation of the righteous from the wicked.  The wicked are very wicked.  The state of the world as far as the wicked goes is very bad, but the state of the world in general is very good, so long as the righteous can continue to keep all this in check.  But watch out for a set of circumstances where the righteous finally get fed up and just abandon their real estate and jobs and walk away, because they can't take staying around the wicked anymore, and they just physically leave.  Then when the wicked are left to themselves in a certain area, watch out.  Then they will be destroyed, and the Lord will not stay his hand.

[bluebell]

When I hear people talking doom and gloom, a lot of times it because of rampant (in their eyes) spiritual dangers that their loved ones are wading through.  And when i see how much kids struggle with stuff like porn as early as 7-8 years old, and hear how many of the women i talk to are on medication for mental issues or feel like they are drowning and can't handle another day, or i read about one more teen suicide do to bullying, i totally understand what they are talking about.  For all of our blessings, people seem to be struggling disproportionate to their physical trials, more than they ever were before.  Suicide is starting to feel rampant, and sinning is so easy and so acceptable by society in general, it does make this time seem very precarious.

But like you said, i think that physically and financially we are in much better shape than previous generations.

[Storm Rider]

I guess it depends on what you look at and define as good or bad.  I also think that we each see what we want to see and we evaluate differently depending upon our own wants and desires.

I suspect that at no time in history have more children/enfants been killed than today.  "According to WHO, every year in the world there are an estimated 40-50 million abortions. This corresponds to approximately 125,000 abortions per day. In the USA, where nearly half of pregnancies are unintended and four in 10 of these are terminated by abortion , there are over 3,000 abortions per day. Twenty-two percent of all pregnancies in the USA (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion."  

When I think of truly horrific events our careless attitude toward the unborn and our willingness to dispose of them is one of the blackest events in all of history. Just think, the number of humans killed each year through abortions is the equivalent of those who died in WWII.  

The status of the family unit is abysmal.  Children raised in single parent households has been increasing and the result is that children suffer more.  In the US divorce is still the option of choice for many.  

Education (university) has become very expensive and appears to only be getting more expensive. We are also educating in an unequal manner as is evident in who excels in schools and who doesn't.  Many tout the benefits of the advancement of girls, but their advancement has been achieved at undermining and allowing boys to fall behind.  "Thirty years after the passage of equal opportunity laws, girls are graduating from high school and college and going into professions and businesses in record numbers. Now, it's the boys who could use a little help in school, where they're falling behind their female counterparts. And if you think it's just boys from the inner cities, think again. It's happening in all segments of society, in all 50 states. That's why more and more educators are calling for a new national effort to put boys on an equal footing with their sisters."  

Edited March 14, 2018 by Storm Rider

[pogi]

9 hours ago, sunstoned said:

I believe that right now, this very minute is the best time to be alive in the history of the planet.  Things are far from perfect, and there is still war, hunger, disease and oppression.  But it is better than it use to be.  Christians are not being fed to the lions, minorities are not being lynched in the deep south, typhoid, polio, smallpox, malaria and other diseases that use to kill millions have been all be eradicated.  In the West, women and minorities are beginning to be treated as equals, and poverty is down.  

While I agree that this is probably the best time to be alive in the history of the planet, Humba is right about malaria.  The map he posted only shows the death rate from malaria, but the risk for malaria infection is incredibly high, even in green areas on the map, like the Amazon basin for example.  It is simply a less life-threatening strain of malaria (P. vivax) in that area; whereas the dark red areas are due to the falsiparum strain of malaria.  Also, treatment opportunities are worse in the red areas, which is another reason we see more death, but we do still see lots of malaria cases in Central (as close as Mexico - in certain areas) and most of South America too.  Also, typhoid is still a major problem in all developing countries (most of the world), and polio is mostly eradicated  but not completely.  There are still pockets in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria, for example.  We also see vaccine derived polio outbreaks fairly regularly where the oral polio vaccine is still used - the most recent is in Somalia (just got the update yesterday).  

While we have made huge strides in developed nations, developing countries are still at very high risk for terrible infectious diseases.  We should be far from comfortable with the risk of a major pandemic of disease throughout the world.  A major flu pandemic, like the one in 1918 which killed many, many millions of people is only one minor viral mutation away.  Many pandemics are a viral mutation/airplane ride away, like avian influenza which is pretty well limited to South/South East Asia right now.  Yellow Fever is an airplane ride away from spreading like wild fire and devastating much of Asia, which has ripe conditions for a pandemic with the right vector (Aedes mosquito) and host (non-human primates), and crowded populations.  Add to that the warming of the planet and many of these diseases could quickly make their way back to the States and increase throughout the world. 

So yes, I am cautiously optimistic about the time we live in, but am realistic about how fast things can change in terms of infectious disease, but also in terms of economic stability and world peace.  The **** could potentially hit the fan in my life-time, wo while we should be greatful for the relative safety and stability and progress of the world right now, we should not fall into a lax security. 

[bsjkki]

39 minutes ago, bluebell said:

When I hear people talking doom and gloom, a lot of times it because of rampant (in their eyes) spiritual dangers that their loved ones are wading through.  And when i see how much kids struggle with stuff like porn as early as 7-8 years old, and hear how many of the women i talk to are on medication for mental issues or feel like they are drowning and can't handle another day, or i read about one more teen suicide do to bullying, i totally understand what they are talking about.  For all of our blessings, people seem to be struggling disproportionate to their physical trials, more than they ever were before.  Suicide is starting to feel rampant, and sinning is so easy and so acceptable by society in general, it does make this time seem very precarious.

But like you said, i think that physically and financially we are in much better shape than previous generations.

I found some interesting information on these topics. First, this article in Psychology Today discusses the equalization of unhappiness between the older and younger generation. She basically faults our culture and high expectations fed to us by media and culture that do not equal reality as the culprit for all this unhappiness. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/our-changing-culture/201511/why-adults-are-less-happy-they-used-be It is also interesting that South America contains the world's happiest people. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/study-latin-americans-are-worlds-happiest-people/ I don't think wealth and happiness correlate well. As Mormons, I think we suffer from the expectations game that is hard to live up to. 

I really liked this talk by Neil Maxwell. https://www.lds.org/ensign/1982/11/be-of-good-cheer?lang=eng  

Instead, Jesus calls upon us to have a deliberate trust in God’s unfolding purposes, not only for all humankind but for us individually. And we are to be of good cheer in the unfolding process.

We must not underestimate, however, the difficulty of the last days. Joel and Zephaniah both speak of the last days as being “a day of … gloominess.” (Joel 2:2; Zeph. 1:15.) The coming decades will be times of despair. Why? Because, as Moroni said, despair comes of iniquity. (See Moro. 10:22.) The more iniquity, the more despair. And unless there is widespread repentance, despair will both deepen and spread—except among those who have gospel gladness.

This reminds me of a recent comment by my Bishop and also comments made by my spouse in the past. We have the Gospel, we know who wins in the end, why is it our ward members seem so unhappy? I think it is dangerous to spend too much time on the 'woe is me' and doom and gloom thinking that is out there. In some ways, we need to preach the hope in Christ and the good news of the Gospel and the good things that are occurring in the world to counteract all the negative. We need to spread the feeling of 'gospel gladness' and not gospel sadness. I, personally, have been working on this commandment to 'be of good cheer.' 

"Jesus has given that same instruction to others before, when the stressful circumstances in which they found themselves were anything but cheerful. For instance, he told the original Twelve to be of good cheer when, on the surface, there was nothing to be cheerful about. (John 16:33.) The indescribable agonies of Gethsemane were imminent. Judas’s betrayal lay immediately ahead. Likewise, Jesus’ arrest and arraignment. The Twelve would be scattered like sheep. Jesus’ unjust and mocking trial and His terrible scourging were but hours away. The shrill and disappointing cry of the mob—to release Barabbas instead of Jesus—would soon echo in the air. Then would come the final, awful moments on Calvary!Therefore, how could Jesus expect the Twelve to be of good cheer? Because, the Savior said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33; italics added.)"

I found another more current article on happiness statistics around the world. https://apnews.com/c53e612a407844b1861d4a6063c41877/Shucks,-Finns:-Finland-tops-2018-global-happiness-index and here is one more. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2894632/Are-Americans-happier-upbeat-Research-reveals-people-U-S-tend-significantly-cheerful-rich-countries.html Each of these studies used different measures but I thought they were all interesting.

 

Edited March 14, 2018 by bsjkki

[bluebell]

21 minutes ago, bsjkki said:

I found some interesting information on these topics. First, this article in Psychology Today discusses the equalization of unhappiness between the older and younger generation. She basically faults our culture and high expectations fed to us by media and culture that do not equal reality as the culprit for all this unhappiness. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/our-changing-culture/201511/why-adults-are-less-happy-they-used-be It is also interesting that South America contains the world's happiest people. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/study-latin-americans-are-worlds-happiest-people/ I don't think wealth and happiness correlate well. As Mormons, I think we suffer from the expectations game that is hard to live up to. 

 

I totally believe that.  I think that social media is a HUGE part of our society's struggle with unhappiness.  There is way to much comparison going on, and trying to meet standards that appear real but very much aren't.  And I agree that wealth and happiness don't necessarily correlate, but i think that for anyone who has ever lived in real poverty (who has not known how they were going to feed their children from day to day or who did not have adequate shelter or clothing), the idea that people can have these needs met with not worry and still be desperately depressed is difficult to fathom.

Quote

 

I really liked this talk by Neil Maxwell. https://www.lds.org/ensign/1982/11/be-of-good-cheer?lang=eng  

Instead, Jesus calls upon us to have a deliberate trust in God’s unfolding purposes, not only for all humankind but for us individually. And we are to be of good cheer in the unfolding process.

We must not underestimate, however, the difficulty of the last days. Joel and Zephaniah both speak of the last days as being “a day of … gloominess.” (Joel 2:2; Zeph. 1:15.) The coming decades will be times of despair. Why? Because, as Moroni said, despair comes of iniquity. (See Moro. 10:22.) The more iniquity, the more despair. And unless there is widespread repentance, despair will both deepen and spread—except among those who have gospel gladness.

 

I believe Maxwell speaks the truth.

 

[Tacenda]

1 hour ago, bluebell said:

When I hear people talking doom and gloom, a lot of times it because of rampant (in their eyes) spiritual dangers that their loved ones are wading through.  And when i see how much kids struggle with stuff like porn as early as 7-8 years old, and hear how many of the women i talk to are on medication for mental issues or feel like they are drowning and can't handle another day, or i read about one more teen suicide do to bullying, i totally understand what they are talking about.  For all of our blessings, people seem to be struggling disproportionate to their physical trials, more than they ever were before.  Suicide is starting to feel rampant, and sinning is so easy and so acceptable by society in general, it does make this time seem very precarious.

But like you said, i think that physically and financially we are in much better shape than previous generations.

The other day I worked at my sister's venue and clearing up dishes while a wedding luncheon was taking place. The couple had just been married in the temple. During the luncheon, the couple stood up to speak as well as many others in the room. It was so hard to listen to because there was so much weeping. The other gal I worked with is Catholic, and she kept saying why are they so sad it's suppose to be a happy time. I couldn't figure it out either, and then after the luncheon my brother in law told me that the couple's (bride or groom's) brother had killed himself recently. So I just can't get over how much suicide is happening, even in our LDS homes. It's so rampent. I wish those that just want to end it, been there, could make it to the next few days, when it gets better. Unless they're in a deep depression then that's another story. 

Should we chalk it up to social media? Seems like a lot of people are attributing it to the cause of many depressed people. Some want to give their youth dummy phones instead of smart phones. I think that's probably a good idea.

[The Nehor]

Cheer and happiness is the best way to view the end times. Sure, the wicked will burn but who is going to miss them? Some others may die but the resurrection is imminent when they can walk the earth again anyways. Times will be difficult but we have the Millenium on the way where we can fix all that.